A Liar and a Coward
by pommedeplume
Summary: (July 29 - July 30, 2001) When Peter Pettigrew spots his friend Sirius's brother, Regulus, with their old rival, Severus Snape, he's faced with a choice to be honest or keep the secret to protect himself. Part 15 of All That We Have Left series


_July 29, 2001_

"My friends, let me tell you something about Great Britain. It is no longer Great! The church is corrupt! The government is corrupt! Our royal family is a shadow of our great monarchs of the past. And there's a sense that Britain… isn't British anymore," Tom Riddle said, folding his hands in front of him, looking over the room.

Peter pursed his lips, feeling uncomfortable. Maddy sat next to him, holding his hand. Peter liked that. He liked the idea that this beautiful woman wasn't ashamed of him. He would be ashamed of him.

"So, if we are not Great and we are not British… what are we?" Tom asked, his eyes roaming.

Peter didn't like it when Tom looked at him. He had the sort of piercing gaze that looked like he could hear your thoughts, not that Peter believed in such things.

"It's OK. You don't need to answer. By now if you are here and you have read my book, then you know all about my vision for the United Kingdom. I envision a pure Britain, free of reminders of who we aren't and filled with reminders of who we are!"

The room clapped at this. Tom never came out and said what he meant, but Peter understood. He was talking about foreigners. Peter didn't mind foreigners. James's mum wasn't born in the UK after all and she was all right.

Tom Riddle smiled. Peter thought he was a good looking bloke, though he'd obviously had some work done. Peter had read Tom's book, mostly to make Maddy happy, though he was curious.

Tom said little of his background in the book. Most of the book detailed his vision of Great Britain. He wanted to topple the monarchy and parliament and institute a new government. He wanted to cut Britain off from the rest of the world and focus on putting Britain first.

There was a lot about Tom's vision of a Britain that held the power and respect it deserved that was appealing. He liked the idea of getting rid of the monarchy, for instance. Tom had a way of making you want to listen to the things he had to say and a way of scaring the devil out of Peter.

Maddy had complained that Tom didn't talk enough about making things better for women. Peter wondered why Maddy cared about women but didn't seem bothered by Tom's dislike of foreigner and perhaps agreed with it. What about foreign women, he wondered.

Tom went on for a while more about Britain. He rarely talked about the world beyond Britain. He ended by reminding people to buy his book or even buy extra copies to give their friends. It bothered Peter that Tom seemed to want so much money. Based on his state of dress and his obvious plastic surgery he suspected that Tom had plenty of money.

"Remember: if your friends and family aren't willing to share our new vision of the future, what room is there for them in your life? Those you see before me are your friends and family now!" Tom said, grinning with confidence.

Peter had no intention of ever telling any of his friends and family about Tom. He wanted to tell them about Maddy but he just knew that James and Sirius would take the piss.

"That was so good, wasn't it?" Maddy said as Tom finally dismissed everyone.

"Yeah," Peter said, unsure how much he meant it.

Peter and Maddy stood up. Peter let go of her hand for a moment to stretch. When he opened his eyes he had a start as he saw a pair of faces he didn't expect: Severus Snape, with a young man who strongly resembled his friend, Sirius Black, leaning in close to Snape's ear. Sirius's brother, Regulus! It looked romantic to Peter.

"What?" Maddy asked Peter.

"That's Severus Snape!" Peter said.

"Yeah. He's always here. Haven't you noticed?" Maddy asked.

"No!" Peter said.

Maddy's icy blue eyes examined Peter with confusion. Peter wasn't sure she would want to know about the prank that he, James, Sirius and Remus had played on Severus three years ago that nearly got him killed.

He also didn't know how to explain how disconcerting it was to see Snape holding hands with someone who looked so much like Sirius. He immediately had an urge to call Sirius but he wasn't sure how he could even explain how he saw this.

Suddenly, Snape's head turned in their direction. Shit, Peter thought as Snape smiled slyly and walked over to them, patting Regulus affectionately, indicating that he should stay put.

"Pettigrew," Snape said.

"Oh, uh, hi, Severus," Peter stammered.

"I see that Miss Yaxley has brought you into our ranks," Snape said.

Peter didn't point out that he'd been going as long as Maddy had.

"Peter knows what's right, just as well as I do," Maddy said.

Snape looked between them and sneered.

"Do you really believe that, Miss Yaxley? Some people will do a lot for a taste of something… _sweet_ ," Snape said, the last word said while giving Maddy a pointed glance, making sure she knew exactly what he meant.

Maddy frowned and Snape smiled then walked away, the bloody wanker.

"Come on, Peter. Let's get out of here," Maddy said, taking him by the hand.

A while later they were at her flat. They hadn't said anything on the way back home. Peter felt nervous. Maddy didn't really believe what Snape said, did she?

They sat down on the sofa. Maddy sat there, quietly for several minutes.

"Maddy you know that I'm not… I wouldn't!" Peter said.

Maddy looked over at Peter and smiled.

"I know. I was just thinking… I went on a date with Snape a while back. I don't know why I said yes. Bored, I suppose. He's not good looking or nice. Actually he's kind of an arsehole," Maddy said.

"Tell me about it," Peter grumbled.

Maddy laughed and continued: "Did you know he's hung up on your friend? What's her name? Evans?"

"Yeah, Lily."

"Right. Lily. Anyhow, he kept talking about her. And he told me about that prank you lot pulled. I couldn't help but laugh. He didn't find it funny, however. I'm not surprised he's having it off with Regulus Black. He's obsessed with you lot. He hates James Potter," Maddy said.

Peter cringed. Personally, he felt terrible about that incident, though he was relieved to find out that Maddy wasn't judging him for his participation.

"Anyhow, he wanted to come back to my flat. I said yes. Once we were here he tried to snog me. I sort of… laughed in his face. Then he had the nerve to ask if I wanted to shag. Of course, I bloody didn't. Not until he'd had a bath or at least washed his hair. He got pretty angry and left in a huff," Maddy said.

"Blimey," Peter said.

"I know you aren't just dating me for what's between my legs, Peter. You're a gentleman. You're so much better than Snape," Maddy said then leaned over and kissed Peter with her dark blue painted lips.

Peter never tired of the feeling of her lips on his. She was really good at snogging.

"He's just jealous that you are able to get something he thought he should've got. I know what people say about me. They say I open my legs up for anyone who wants me. But that's not true. I love sex but I still have standards," Maddy said sliding her hand between Peter's legs, rubbing his already stiff cock through his trousers.

"Do you? I admit it's not been easy to believe that… well, I just don't understand," Peter said.

Maddy undid his trousers, sliding her pale hand into his pants and wrapping it around his erection. She kissed him while she loosely stroked him.

"Don't worry about it," Maddy said, as her head began to trail down his body.

Maddy stretched her body out and laid herself down on the sofa, her head at his groin. She pushed her mouth onto his cock, sucking it slow and deep.

"Oh, god!" Peter said.

Peter wasn't dating Maddy just for this but it ruddy well didn't hurt. Peter reached over and squeezed her round bottom through her skirt and bit his lip. Maddy gradually increased her sucking until he couldn't hold on any longer, coming hard into her mouth, his grip on her arse rather hard. She then lifted back up and gave him a slow kiss.

Peter's phone rang. Despite having turned down James's offer he had accepted when Maddy offered to get him a phone. Peter answered while Maddy climbed onto his lap, kissing his neck and pressing her bosom against him tightly.

"Hello?" Peter asked.

"Pete. I'm having a problem," Sirius said.

"Oh?" Peter asked, trying to ignore the beautiful woman all over him and his cock that was already getting hard again.

"Yes. Can you come over to James and Lily's in the morning? Remus and I are there already. I'll explain then," Sirius asked.

"I want to sit on your face," Maddy whispered into Peter's other ear.

Peter gasped then covered his mouth.

"Was that a _girl_? Bloody hell, Pete. I'll let you go. See you in the morning," Sirius said, then the line hung up.

* * *

 _July 30, 2001_

Peter walked entered James's flat to a somber scene. Sirius was sitting at the dining table with his head in his hands. Remus was rubbing Sirius's back. Lily was drinking tea and frowning.

"Hello," Peter said, nervously.

"Hey, Pete," Lily said.

"What's the trouble?" Peter asked, afraid of the answer.

Sirius slowly looked up at Peter. His face was red, probably from crying.

"I got a call from my mother last night. First bloody one I've received since I ran away over a year ago. It's my brother… they think he's killed himself," Sirius said

Peter immediately felt panicked. He had seen Regulus just the night before. Oh, god, he was with Severus Snape! Would Snape really hurt him?

"Why do they think that? Have they found…"

"No, they haven't found a body. He disappeared but left a note on his bed… a suicide note," Sirius said, looking weary.

"When did they find it?" Peter asked.

"A week ago. No one has seen him since. They finally called me. They blamed me. Said that I had corrupted their perfect son. I told them I hadn't seen him but they don't believe me," Sirius said.

Regulus was still alive and Peter knew it. His mind raced. He could tell Sirius his brother was alive but there were implications to that reveal… He would have to tell him about Tom Riddle. He would have to tell them all about Maddy and he would have to tell Sirius that his little brother was seeing Severus Snape.

"I'm sure you're wondering why I wanted to tell you in person," Sirius said.

"Oh. Well, yes, I suppose," Peter said, though at the time he was too distracted to care.

"We're planning on trying to look for him, as a group. I know some of the places he likes to go. Or at least I know places he used to like to go. Now? Who knows," Sirius admitted with a shrug.

"Of course. I would do anything to help," Peter said.

I'm a coward, Peter thought with loathing. He _knew_ Regulus was alive. This wasn't right and he knew it. But he felt frozen in place as Sirius explained their plan to search for Regulus.

Within an hour they were out on the town. Peter felt sick all day as they went from place to place. He tried to think of someway he could lead them to Severus Snape without telling them everything. But now it was too late. If he told them now it would look bad for him. But didn't it already look bad?

It wasn't until after nine before they finally gave up. Peter headed straight to Maddy's flat, tears in his eyes as she opened the door. Peter thrust himself upon her, crying onto her chest.

"Peter," Maddy said softly, as she stroked his hair. "What ever is the matter?"

"I'm a liar and a coward," Peter said and he meant it.

Maddy led Peter by the hand to the bedroom. She put on some music then crawled into bed and held him while he continued to cry. She never said anything or even asked him to explain himself. Maddy didn't judge him. If there was anything she could give him that his friends couldn't or wouldn't give him it was that.

And it was this, he thought, as he began to drift off to sleep in her arms.


End file.
